Girlfriend and I are trying to pick out a carrier and plan that fits within our budget. Do not have a figure in mind for a "per month" fee, just shopping around I guess. She is on her families plan and I am using cricket pay as you go and I need a real phone and plan. Soooo trying to get opinions on phones and carriers/plans. Of all of the phones I have used and played around with, iphones always seem to be mostly what I want. But I hate hate hate that I can not remove the battery or jailbreak or actually do what I want and can with it. :/

What I would like from a phone:-*Needs* long battery life-Easy to text from. I can adapt to whatever, but I am not digging my current cheap droid powered phones texting-Would like the ability to have mobile hotspot for free, but not necessary-Need to be able to access the internet-Durable. Anything I carry with me daily is almost always military surplus for a reason. (Cheap and lasts forever)-Maps of some awesome sort. I offroad alot. Even if I can not access the network, I still need decent maps of some variety. -At least semi decent pictures. Again, I am active as all ever and offroad far to much and take way to many pictures of some serious random stuff-Ability to capture videos would be nice as wellEdited by A-E-I-Owned-You - 12/5/12 at 6:45pm

-I have to recommend the Droid Razr Maxx or the Samsung Galaxy S III. They are both Android devices that are decent on battery life. Expect about 8 hours. I know it's not great, but that's how most smart phones are these days.
-The Droid and Galaxy S III are definitely durable, but I would recommend getting a case if you're worried about durability. It never hurts. There are many cases out there that are sturdy, but doesn't make the phone ten times bigger.
-Both of these devices come with Google Maps and Navigation. There is a mode called "Offline Mode", in which you can download a specific area (say 50 mile radius) and use it while you are on the road. You do not need to be connected to the internet. NOTE: I'm not 100% sure this option is on these devices. I'm sure there is some app that lets you do this, though.
-Both of these provide a great camera and take video.

I recommend going to a store and trying out these phones. Right now, Verizon is definitely the top provider. I'm switching to them in February. I have Sprint. Whatever you do, don't get Sprint. It's slow as molasses.

Hm. I will look into them. It seems like ATT has the cheapest plans for us to go with right now, but maybe I am wrong. Verizon and TMobile have screwed me over quite a bit in the past, but I am open to any suggestions and realize it really comes down to what I can spend and what phone I want haha

As for family plans, Sprint is the best. I'm not sure how Verizon is, but I'm not surprised if it's expensive. If you can live with a .65mbps download speed and a .05mbps upload, get Sprint. The faster the speeds and the more coverage you want, the more you''ll pay.

I'm interested in T-Mobile, because they're updating their 4G towers and are trying to beat Verizon and AT&T. They're affordable, too.

I'm currently on T-mo and I thought they were the cheapest (perhaps since I'm grandfathered in) I pay $70 a month for unlimited call/txt on 2 phones and unlimited 4g web on 1 of those 2. coverage is great where I'm at but I know there are troubles in the middle of no where.

I also have verizon (for work) they deffinately have the best cell coverage for voice.

-Verizon tends to be the most expensive, with some of the best coverage. However, if you drop into 3G you will feel it.
-Sprint tends to be the cheapest, but after their WIMAX flop, expect to wait a bit until their LTE coverage exists outside of a few cities. Their 3G also tends to be dog slow.
-ATT will be slightly cheaper than Verizon, with decent coverage. Their 3G is also much faster than Verizon/Sprint, so you won't take as much of a hit if you drop into it a lot. Their customer service is also some of the worst.
-T-Mobile is cheap like Sprint, with decent 3G/4G, however coverage seems to be lacking in a lot of areas.

I would figure out what your friends/families have for service in your area to figure out who will give you the best. Look at coverage maps but don't trust them blindly.

Go into a store that carries more than one carrier and play with some phones to see how you like each in your hand. The iphone (4/4s) will be some of the most fragile phones you can get. Either way, smartphones are NOT built like tanks, invest in a nice case.